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Thursday, May 9, 2013

Beef with Saban Brands

Some of the following is not my own opinion but I see as a consensus amongst the majority of fans.

When Disney took over Power Rangers, many older fans (mainly us) did not like what they were doing with the franchise, namely the storylines, explosions, etc. (Me on the other hand had no real problem with the Disney Era, maybe some nitpicks here and there but nothing major) Most fans compared anything new to the 'Saban Era' (MMPR to Time Force or Wild Force, however fans view it). Most beef fans had was directed to the new showrunners (Bruce Kalish, etc.). When Disney let it go, fans were disappointed it was ending. When they heard Saban was taking it over again, fans were elated. Slowly but surely fans started complaining about the quality of Power Rangers Samurai. Because Saban Brands created Power Force to hear feedback from fans, I decided to lay out all the grudges fans have now in case they didn't know about it.

Here is a (long) list of what beefs some fans (if not all) have with Saban Brands:

Power Rangers Samurai quality

I have covered this before that fans did not like that Samurai took most
of its plotlines from Shinkenger. Many fans considered it 'cut and
paste' Shinkenger, just being translated. I have countered that
Shinkenger had Kuroko and did not have Bulk, Spike, Mega modes and
Shogun modes but fans who dislike the two seasons say that is just
merely aesthetic changes. Another complaint is acting. While Power Rangers acting is notorious for not being up to par, the Samurai actors have gotten more clout. Probably because there was almost no acting complaints about the RPM cast (I might be incorrect). Some excuses pass but 'wooden actor' has been used more than ten times. Daniel Ewing (Dillon/RPM) has come to the defense of the Jungle Fury actors who have also been blamed for bad acting and he said that it has to do with the writing. So maybe that was the case, I don't know. Also some fans didn't like the Mega and Shogun modes, seeing they didn't make sense to have armor INSIDE the zords instead of outside. (Also yeah I know, people said they were made to sell toys but that could be the complaint for Power Rangers all together)

Nickelodeon

Fans are most upset at Nickeldeon. That there is only 20 episodes each season. Under Saban and Fox back when, we had as little 40 episodes but under Disney, we got as low as 32 episodes. Collectively Samurai and Super Samurai had 44 episodes and one special but it was in the course of two years. I am a teacher and kids have told me that they hate repeats. Older fans also like the big breaks of repeats. We wish it was 40 episode per year or even more. The explanation SB has given for the 2 year themes is to grow the brand and get the same theme internationally but so far they are still off by months. France just recently got Megaforce. And fans were REALLY upset when the last batch of Super Samurai episodes aired first in Nickelodeon Latin America, months before they did in the United States. Also fans are upset at the lack of promotion on Nickelodeon and also delays in NickToons (old seasons were to start in fall of 2010 but didn't happen until mid 2011).

SPOILERS AHEAD HIGHLIGHT TO READ

Former Actors getting little to no pay

Here is the generic e-mail sent to most of the former actors, thanks to FuryDiamond of RangerCrew:

The press release that came to light last June for the Licensing Fair spotlighted cameos but in the generic e-mail, it says that they were not planning cameos. Could it be that the cameos was a last minute edition after finding it out through Gokaiger? Because I believe that before Gokaiger, SB was just planning to make Goseiger two seasons and have their Ultra Mode be the second season called "Ultra Megaforce" as they copyrighted that title (they also copyrighted Super Megaforce). But ultimately they chose to squeeze Gosieger for season one and Gokaiger for season two (calling it Super Megaforce). Anyway, recent news from former actors is that they are not being offered a lot in terms of money and only for a small cameo.

And with Rhett Fisher (Ryan) being invited and then dis-invited, some fans are upset. People really want the Titanium Ranger because he is the first American-made Ranger that was not from Sentai. And fans consider that enough to distinguish between Power Rangers and Super Sentai. In a way, it acknowledges Power Rangers more as it is more original than the actual borrowed footage. Also with the possible news that only the Gokaiger Ranger Keys and changes are being used are only for Super Megaforce. So that means Titanium Ranger might not grace Power Rangers Super Megaforce. So why do fans care about how much former actors getting paid? Because we want to see them and not hear about the budget matters. It shouldn't matter. Also I feel bad for the actors, who didn't get much money when they were on the show and even less now. If Saban wanted to make us happy, it wasn't that hard but not so simple either but I have 3 things: 1. Guest spots and cameos just like in Gokaiger from former actors 2. References to former seasons 3. Original footage, not relying so much on the Japanese footage (like the Goseiger cards)

The Little Things

The Ranger teens having the same outfits over and over. It wouldn't be so noticeable if they weren't high school students.

Goseiger cards being seen with Goseiger names and not Megaforce names (I mean, they shot footage of Mega mode and Shogun modes but they couldn't reshoot a couple cards?)

The same MMPR song being butchered for Samurai and Megaforce. Get a new song already.

The rhyming motto: Samurai: Rangers Together, Samurai Forever and Megaforce: Earth defenders never surrender (which hasn't been used a lot in Megaforce so a good).

Ranger Keys in the headquarters of Megaforce not being all that accurate and repeated twice to fill in.

No city name for Samurai (it has been seen on the show but not mentioned in dialogue).

No last names for Samurai (even though the websites have the last names of Megaforce, they are still not been mentioned on the show.)

Also there are a couple things happening within Power Force that I probably shouldn't mention (I'm mostly afraid of how my fellow Power Force members would react than Saban Brands' reaction).

I mean, if Saban Brands really wanted to celebrate the 20th anniversary, why not use all resources (even though he is notorious for cutting corners), why not invest a little more money on the quality of the show. In this day and age of screen capturing and tweeting (and since they encourage tweeting), why not make sure there is no slip ups ( the faulty repeated Ranger Keys in the headquarters)? I digress. I am sure there are more complaints, so feel free to comment on them on this post.

4 comments:

My main thing on the show is the quality of writing, at least from what I saw from the clips. It's like the writers forgot they were in high school. Particularly with Jake's crush on Gia. It's extremely forced and it's like he's stalking her. I'm kind of sick of the whole Red and Pink, and Black and Yellow.

From what I've seen from Disney, their acting quality was actually better than some of the Saban seasons--that's because they chose experienced actors who had previously been on other shows (most of the New Zealand ones were on soaps, and they knew how to act).

What I've learned is that you don't have to blame the actors--you have to blame the director. The director has to nurture the actors and bring them to their full potential. Black and Blue are good, from what I've seen. Red and Pink don't really have the ability, they need more experience. Yellow has potential, at least from her vlogs, she has a lot of energy--she needs more nurturing. Get a director who can actually, you know, direct.

The "nostalgia" is very forced. I know they're trying to please the fans, but it's pretty corny. The way to please the fans, most of whom are adults, is to give them a well-written, well-acted series.

It seems the main goal of Saban is not to create a good series, but to sell toys. And the making money aspect is overriding the quality series. The use of the Gokaiger uniforms is a prime example of it. Not only is it frivolous, it's extremely awkward. So you transform into one form to transform into others? It's kind of silly.

Overall, Power Rangers is a kids series. And kids need quality entertainment. They don't like being talked down to. They need something engaging.

Here's where I'm going to be the sentai loyalist that I am: One of the goals for each Super Sentai series is to sell toys to kids. However, they still create a quality show, with three-dimensional, and likable characters, juicy plots, and three-dimensional villains--at least most of the time, along with quality acting. There is a reason why it's still going on for almost 40 years. And there is a reason why there are not only adult fans in Japan, but adult fans in America, and why there are crossover fans in the US (fans who started with PR and moved onto Sentai). I am one of them. Not only do they respect the intelligence of the fans, but the writers and directors are extremely talented. Watch them, observe them, but for the love of all that's good in the world, don't copy them--you did it last season and it wasn't even a good copy.

Disclaimers

- The only connection to Power Rangers I have is Power Force (which is a need to know basis) and SB does not control the content on this blog in any way.-Comments are to be approved (spamming and cursing will be deleted), so if you don't see your comment instantly,multiple posting isn't needed. If you post more than once, they'll be deleted. - Info on this blog is NOT 100% accurate because of human error, it is unintentional to be incorrect. - I'm prone to re-edit the posts. For updates, check my Twitter account.